Lift truck for handling heavy loads



Oct- 12, 1954 H. w. VANDERHOEF LIFT TRUCK FOR HANDLING HEAVY LOADS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 Filed NOV. 19, 1951 IN VENTOR WM 7 ATTORN E Y5 HENRY W. VANDERHOEF Oct. 12, 1954 H. w. VANDERHOEF LIFT TRUCK FOR HANDLING HEAVY LOADS Filed Nov. 19. 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 1N VENTOR HENRY WJVANDERHOE'F WWW 6%; ATTORNEYS Oct. 12, 1954 H. w. VANDERHOEF LIFT TRUCK FOR HANDLING HEAVY LOADS Filed Nov. 19, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR HENRY W. VANDERHOEFJ v ATTORNEYS Oct. 12, 1954 H. w. VANDERHOEF LIFT TRUCK FOR HANDLING HEAVY LOADS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Nov. 19, 1951 INVEIJTOR HENRY W. VANDERHOEF BY 8m W ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 12, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

My invention relates to a light-weight lowcost vehicle equipped with means for lifting heavy weights. There are a large number of types of fork lift on the market today, but most of these are fairly heavy expensive machines which can justify their cost only if kept in constant use. I have devised a machine which will lift and carry weights of up to a ton but is fabricated from a relatively few inexpensive parts and may accordingly be sold at a price which will permit it to pay for itself even if used only a few times a week. It is particularly valuable to men operating small one-man businesses who need to lift heavy objects occasionally. It is impractical to go out and hire another man specially every time this must be done, and uneconomic to keep a man on the payroll all the time when he is really needed only for occasional help in handling heavy objects.

My invention is particularly adapted to outof-doors use. By reason of its comparative lightness it is less apt to sink into moderately soft ground, and since its tines may be lowered down to the ground they may he slipped under an object lying thereon without the use of a pallet, simply by forcing the tines along the surface of the ground. The hand jack and extremely low gear drive make it unnecessary to mount any heavy engine to serve as a source of power.

A preferred embodiment of my invention is shown in the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a side view of my machine, with the load support in lowered position and the raised position of the tines and platform shown in dotted lines;

Figure 2 is a side view of my machine with the load support shown in raised position;

Figure 3 is a horizontal cross-section taken along the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an end view, taken from the left of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a vertical cross-section taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is an end view taken from the right of Figure 1;

Figure 7 is a partial side view showing the driving mechanism, with the steering post in partial cross-section taken along its center line, parallel to the plane of the figure;

Figure 8 is an end view taken from the left of Figure 1, with the steering post in partial crosssection taken along its center line parallel to plane of the figure;

Figure 9 is a partial cross section of the steering post and bearing assembly as shown in'Figure 7 on a larger scale;

Figure 10 is a fragmentary plan view of the engine support; and

Figure 11 is a horizontal cross-section through the gear box taken immediately above the sprocket wheels.

Like reference characters denote like parts throughout the several views.

My device comprises a rectangular base frame IU of conventional angle-irons, with a wheel.

i i mounted near each of the two forward corners. A vertical steel channel member l2 projects upwardly from each of the two forward corners, and a conventional corner post [3 from each of the two rear corners. These support a rectangular upper frame I 4 corresponding to the lower frame I0. Two spaced girders l5 project upwardly and inwardly from each side of the base frame It! and serve as supports for a central beam is which extends longitudinally along the cen terline of the top of the vehicle. A hydraulic cylinder I! is pivotally suspended from the beam 16 near the rear of the vehicle, and a vertical link is is pivotally suspended from the same beam somewhat forwardly of the hydraulic cylinder. A lever arm l9, co-planar with the beam 16 is carried by said hydraulic cylinder and link through pivotal connections at their lower ends. This lever arm turns sharply downward near the front of the vehicle and is pivotally attached at its forward extremity to a strong horizontal member 20 fixed at each end to a vertical channel member [2A complementary to and slidable in one of the vertical steel channel members [2 already described and providing consecutively spaced contact points. Strong steel tines 2| are pivotally attached to the horizontal member 20 in such a manner that they may be pivoted upwardly, but are prevented from swinging down further than a horizontal position by the flange 22.

The hydraulic cylinder is actuated by a hand pumping arm 23 and relieved by a release valve 24. It will thus be seen that when the cylinder is pumped up the fork formed by the horizontal member 20 and tines 2| will be lifted along the trackway provided by the channel members l2. As the pressure is released through the valve 24, the fork will be lowered. Its movement is in a straight line which renders it suitable for objects which should not be tipped, and this is made possible by the pivotal connections of the hydraulic cylinder and vertical link I8, together with the bend in the lever arm I9. This latter feature also makes it possible to lower the fork so that the tines'rest fiat on the ground, thus avoiding the necessity of lifting the object to be said frame, rigid lever supporting means pivotally suspended from said upper support behind said trackways, a jack suspended from said upper, support at a point horizontally spaced from said lever supporting means, and a lever arm pivotally connected at consecutively spaced points to said load supporting means, said lever supporting means and said jack, so that extension of said jack will lift said load support in a straight line.

10. A machine as claimed in claim 9 in which said lever supporting means is positioned between said jacl: and said load supporting means, but substantially nearer to said jack.

11. A machine as claimed in claim 10 in which said load supporting means is fixed between vertical guide bar slidable in said trackways.

12. A machine as claimed in claim 11 in which said jack is of the hand operated hydraulic type.

13. A machine as claimed in claim 9 in which said lever supporting means is positioned between said jack and said load supporting means, but nearer said jack, and said load supporting means comprises a horizontal bar mounted between vertical guide bars slidable in said trackways, and a plurality of tines pivotally mounted on said horizontal bar so as to be free to move from a horizontal position upward to a vertical position.

14. A machine as claimed in claim 1 in which said lever arm bends sharply downward just before its connection to th load supporting means.

15. A machine as claimed in claim i l in which said frame includes a horizontal bar connecting the bottoms of its opposite sides near the bottoms of the trackways and the bend in the lever arm enables the load support to be dropped to ground level without contact between said horizontal bar and said lever arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,182,960 Baldwin May 16, 1916 1,411,652 Willard Apr. 4, 1922 1,693,335 Damerell Nov. 27, 1928 1,720,204 Brinton July 9, 1929 1,720,237 Rernde July 9, 1929 1,835,431 Ryerson Dec. 8, 1931 2,337,109 Johnson Dec. 21, 1943 2,437,010 Way Mar. 2, 1948 2,445,614 Flynn et al. July 20, 1948 2,594,076 Schlein Apr. 22, 1952 2,613,830 Ponnequin Oct. 14, 1952 2,618,396 Belt Nov. 18, 1952 2,620,936 Abbe Dec. 9, 1952 

